The moon hung low that night, cast in a dull crimson veil as if reflecting a truth no one dared speak aloud.
Karl sat on the rooftop of the west dorm, knees drawn to his chest, eyes unfocused on the horizon. Around him, the world was quiet—but inside him, the pressure was building like a storm sealed behind glass.
Raiven lay nearby in the shadows, unusually silent.
The fourth glyph burned faintly beneath Karl's sleeve, pulsing with something… unfamiliar.
Restlessness.
Aeris found him just before midnight.
She didn't speak at first. Just sat beside him, knees brushing his.
After a long pause, Karl finally said, "You ever get the feeling that your body is awake, but your soul is still asleep?"
Aeris tilted her head, searching his face.
"Is it the glyph again?"
He shook his head slowly.
"It's… everything. The glyphs. The sword. The beast. That voice that keeps calling me Veynrith." He exhaled.
"I'm starting to believe him."
Aeris hesitated before replying.
"You should."
Karl turned sharply to her, surprised.
She held his gaze.
"You're not the same boy who arrived at Valdros weeks ago. You've changed."
Her voice softened.
"And it's not just the glyphs."
"Then what is it?"
"The way you move. The way you look at people. Like you're trying to remember something that's just out of reach."
Karl's lips parted… but no words came.
Then Aeris leaned back on her hands, looking up.
"Whatever you were in that past life… it doesn't matter to me."
Karl blinked. "Why not?"
She smiled faintly.
"Because I know who you are now. And I trust this Karl."
Below them, hidden from the students' ears, the southern gates of the Academy opened.
The emissary from the Shadelands had arrived.
He entered without escort, flanked only by two silent, rune-masked guardians. His robe shimmered with dust from travel, but his steps were confident—deliberate.
At the highest tower, Elaris Caelestis awaited.
He bowed low, almost mockingly.
"It's been many years, Headmaster. I see Valdros still stands."
Elaris narrowed her eyes. "We received your message. You claimed knowledge of the Gate."
"Not just knowledge," he replied, "experience."
He held up a hand.
The runes across his palm flared — Veilrunic. Authentic.
"I stood beside the one who first tried to close it… and I watched him fail."
Dormitory – Later That Night
Karl tossed in bed.
He couldn't sleep.
The pressure beneath his glyphs was rising—something new was stirring. It wasn't pain. It wasn't even fear.
It was calling.
He finally slipped into restless dreams.
He stood in a hall of mirrors.
Each mirror reflected a different self.
A child.
A warrior.
A dying man.
A king.
And then, a figure stepped through the last mirror — cloaked in shattered light, his eyes glowing with the same glyphs etched into Karl's arm.
"Veynrith," he said.
"No," Karl muttered. "I'm not—"
"You were. You will be. And tonight, you must choose."
Behind the figure, the fifth glyph shimmered in the air, forming slowly—this one carved with interlocking rings, like the eye of a storm.
"If you take this," the figure said, "you begin to remember. But memory has a price."
Karl woke with a gasp.
His sheets were drenched in sweat.
And on his left shoulder, a new glyph had formed — still faint, but glowing.
The fifth.
A knock echoed through his chamber.
He opened the door to find a courier standing there—trembling.
He held a sealed scroll.
"Message for… for the Veilwalker," the boy stammered.
Karl froze.
"What did you call me?"
The courier blinked.
"That's… what he said to call you."
Karl opened the scroll.
We've met before, when your name was still spoken among kings.
You were not supposed to survive the fourth glyph.
And yet, here you stand.
— E.
At the bottom, a faded sigil.
The same spiral-glyph from the mirrors.
That morning, Karl stood atop the training grounds.
His arm burned faintly beneath the sleeve.
Aeris joined him without asking.
She reached up, brushing the fabric aside.
Her breath caught.
"Another one."
Karl nodded.
"The fifth."
She lowered her hand, and for the first time in days, she looked scared.
"How far are you going to go?"
Karl looked out at the rising sun.
His voice was quiet.
"As far as I have to."
From the headmaster's spire, Elaris and the Shadelands emissary watched him.
The emissary smiled faintly.
"He's almost complete."
Elaris didn't blink.
"And if he finishes?"
The emissary turned to her.
"Then the Gate opens again."